


Pink Umbrella

by Electricbagels



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Introspection, One Shot, Pining, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29621652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Electricbagels/pseuds/Electricbagels
Summary: Basil waved his arm. “Hi guys! Sorry we’re late.”The pink umbrella tilted up. It revealed Kel and Aubrey huddled together under the tight space, inspecting something on the wet pavement. They twisted their crouched bodies towards Basil’s voice, their knees touching and their faces inches apart.Sunny’s heart skipped a beat at the sight. He felt something he couldn’t put into words, but it felt odd nonetheless.Loosely based on Sunny’s flashback, when the four kids hang out on a rainy day.One-sided Aubrey/Sunny, implied Kel/Aubrey.
Relationships: Aubrey & Kel (OMORI), Aubrey & Sunny (OMORI), Aubrey/Kel (OMORI)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	Pink Umbrella

Raindrops drummed against Sunny’s windows. It was raining hard today.

Sunny and Basil scrambled to dress out of their pajamas, grab their umbrellas and shoot out the front door. They had lounged in the living room all morning, too distracted with their Pet Rocks to realize the time. They promised to meet Kel and Aubrey around noon, after Kel finished Sunday church. 

Today Basil wanted help finding a new novel at their public library, after he finished the one he recommended to Sunny— _The Giver_ , it was called. One day Sunny would pick it up, just as he promised Basil, but not for a while. While he liked reading books, lately he had been enjoying comics and video games more. 

Leaving the front porch, the two boys could already hear the shrill voices of juvenile banter from the neighbouring house, muffled by the rain.

“Ew, Kel! That’s gross, not to mention cruel!"

“It’s just what I heard Kim and Vance say! I haven’t done it myself.”

“You better not, or I’m telling Basil! Poor worms…”

Sunny and Basil walked closer to Kel’s home. Instead of two children, they spotted a pink umbrella low to the ground, with two pairs of boots peeking out from underneath. It mushroomed from the other side of Kel’s driveway, close to the edge of the lawn. Surrounded by the forest green, the umbrella’s light pink shape reminded Sunny of a freshly cut watermelon. 

Basil waved his arm. “Hi guys! Sorry we’re late.”

The pink umbrella tilted up. It revealed Kel and Aubrey huddled together under the tight space, inspecting something on the wet pavement. They twisted their crouched bodies towards Basil’s voice, their knees touching and their faces inches apart.

Sunny’s heart skipped a beat at the sight. He felt something he couldn’t put into words, but it felt odd nonetheless.

Grinning, Kel and Aubrey bounced up from their spot to come over. They ran towards their friends near the center of the driveway, their boots splashing water around wildly. 

Kel waved back. “Hey, Sunny! Hey, Basil! What took you guys so long?” 

At the same time, Aubrey yelled out, “Basil, Basil! Take a picture of my new raincoat!”

“Oh!” Basil jumped, a little overwhelmed by their shouting. He turned to Aubrey first. “Okay! One second.” 

From the unbuttoned top of his raincoat, Basil pulled out the Polaroid camera attached to his neck strap. He scanned around Kel’s driveway, searching for a good place to take the photo, before walking closer to the garage. 

“We’re sorry for being late,” Basil repeated. He tried to steady his umbrella on his shoulder while focusing his camera on Aubrey. “We got carried away playing this new game called Pet Rocks...” 

While they were preoccupied, Sunny absentmindedly walked up the driveway to get a glimpse of the other side, where his two friends were crouched over. Their conversation was very spirited as usual. What were they squabbling about?

He spotted some worms wiggling around on the pavement. On rainy days, worms came out onto the pavement to breathe or else they drowned underground. But, in a cruel twist of fate, some worms couldn’t find their way back to the grass after it rained, stranding them outside to dry. Were they bickering about worms?

“Do you like it, Sunny?” 

Sunny snapped up to the sound of Aubrey’s voice. She had walked up to him, with Kel still beside her. She showed off her new raincoat like she did in front of the camera, her head tilted sweetly at him. “It's my favourite colour, pink!” 

After seeing her friends with raincoats and feeling left out, she managed to convince her dad to buy her one. Sunny wanted to say he felt proud for her but he swallowed, trying to ignore the faint warmth on his cheeks. 

Before he could respond, Kel made a face. 

“Ewww,” he whined, “pink is a gross colour.”

Aubrey gasped. “No, it's not, Kel! _You're_ a gross colour!” 

“That doesn't even make any sense.”

It gave Sunny whiplash, the speed at which Aubrey’s bubbly nature switched to fury. It fascinated him how expressive she was—so sweet, yet so combative when pushed. 

She hit back as hard as ever to whatever Kel threw at her, and vice versa. Yet no matter how much they butted heads, they seemed to get along. 

Whether that was a good or bad thing, Sunny wasn’t sure. His sister Mari, walking him home from school one day, said that Kel and Aubrey’s bickering meant they were honest with one another. While their honesty was admirable, Sunny worried the duo was too petty, too angry. Like one day, someone would push the other too far and whatever happened would be unfixable.

He liked Aubrey more when she was sweet and doting. _Why would you want to make a girl mad at you?_ Sunny wondered. _For the sake of being honest?_ The thought of arguing with Aubrey made him uneasy, not excited.

“Sunny! That reminds me!” Aubrey exclaimed. “I don’t know if Mari ever told you this, but she and I were talking about dyeing our hair together!”

“She has,” Sunny said. 

“Has she told you what colours?”

Sunny shook his head. Mari claimed her black hair was ‘a little boring’, but she hadn’t settled on a new colour yet.

Aubrey’s eyes twinkled, as if she were about to reveal the biggest secret. “Hehe. Well, Mari says she's going to dye hers _purple_.” 

The three boys dropped their jaws in shock. Then they all spoke at once.

“So bold! Just like Mari—!”

“Wow—”

“P-Purple—!?”

Aubrey giggled in wicked delight. She teased Kel, who reacted the most shocked. “You want to know what colour I chose?”

“Wait,” Kel said slowly. “Are you saying you wanna dye your hair... pink?”

“Mm-hmm,” Aubrey nodded with a light hum. 

Kel scrunched up his face again, confused. “Ewww, that's weird. Why would you ever do that?”

Aubrey frowned and dropped her gaze to the puddle near their boots. 

“I don't know,” she said petulantly. “I just thought it would be cute! Mari thinks so too.”

Kel fell silent. He searched his friend’s face with an unreadable expression, thinking. Then he pursed his lips with a _hmph_ , crossed his arms and looked away. 

“I'll never understand you two and your crazy ideas,” he mumbled, shaking his head.

“Well, I think pink would look good on you, Aubrey,” Basil chimed in, causing the disheartened girl’s eyes to lift up. He turned to Sunny with a knowing look. “What do you think?” 

As the rain continued to pitter-patter on their umbrellas, Sunny thought to himself. _Of course pink would look good. Aubrey is always so pretty._

But what can he say? 

_‘Pink is pretty, just like you?’_

_‘You’ll look cute with any colour?’_

_‘Ignore Kel?’’_

His eyes met Aubrey's. She pouted expectantly at him, and he faltered—too unsure, maybe even a little scared, to express his true feelings. With the words stuck in his throat, he managed to spit out some impersonal words. 

“Pink is a great colour,” he said.

Still, Aubrey’s face lit up, a soft smile forming on her lips. Helping her cheer up made Sunny’s heart quicken, and he squeezed his umbrella handle out of reflex. He considered this moment a small victory, even when he dared not to speak more.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Basil watch him curiously. Sunny ignored it.

With renewed vigor, Aubrey jabbed Kel in the chest. “See, even Basil and Sunny agree. You're the one who's weird!” 

“Psh, whatever.” Kel shrugged away from her poke and grumbled. 

Uninterested in their current conversation, Kel turned to Sunny instead. “Anyway, you guys were playing that new Pet Rocks game? Maybe I should get into it too.”

“It’s fun,” Sunny replied. He turned to Aubrey. “You should play too.”

Aubrey shook her head. “I don’t think my dad will let me have one.”

“That’s too bad,” Basil said. “You can play with our Pet Rocks.” 

Kel furrowed his brow in thought, before exclaiming, “I know! Why don't we go to Hobbeez to check if they have any new stuff? I’ll get a Pet Rock and we could try together, Aubrey!”

The other three friends exchanged looks. “Weren’t we going to the library?” asked Basil.

“We were?”

“To find Basil a new book,” Sunny added.

Aubrey smirked. “Kel just doesn’t want to be yelled at by the librarian again—”

“That’s not true!” Kel snapped.

Basil chuckled breathlessly. “Aubrey, she scolded you too for making a scene with Kel.”

“That’s because _I_ was telling him to be quiet—” 

“Yeah, yeah, we know!” Kel sang, waving off Aubrey with a toothy grin. “I promise I’ll be quiet next time! Let’s just go already, guys!” 

He slipped behind Aubrey to grab onto her shoulders, then began to push her towards the town plaza. 

“H-Hey!” Aubrey cried as she stumbled forward.

“Hobbeez is closer anyway! We can go to the library later.”

Aubrey snarled and jerked away from Kel’s grasp. Her umbrella shook from the force, flicking some rain water onto Sunny and Basil. 

“Don’t decide things on your own!” Aubrey scolded. She gave Kel her dirtiest look, who smiled sheepishly, before she turned to the other boys. “What do you two think?”

Sunny shrugged as he and Basil wiped the water off their faces. All his friends were used to Kel’s impulsive plans by now. For the most part, Sunny indulged in his wild and adventurous side whenever he followed Kel's lead, and he thanked the older boy for that.

Basil also seemed indifferent. “We can go to either place first,” he said. “But I bet Sunny wants to go to Hobbeez too.”

He was right—Sunny was eager to show Pet Rocks to their two friends after he and Basil played obsessively this morning. _Besides, going to the library was really no more different than going to Hobbeez_ , Sunny reasoned. Whenever they went to the library, Kel eventually dragged everyone with him to play borrowed CD-ROM games on a library computer. No matter where they went to hang out, they would always be playing games. 

“That settles it,” said Kel, nodding. “See? You’re so fussy, Aubrey. Or should I say, _Miss Fussy Pants_.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?” she screeched.

Kel beamed at her, placing his hands on her shoulders once more.

“Nothing! Let’s go!”

Despite her bad temper, Aubrey let him guide her to Hobbeez at a Kel-like pace. 

Sunny and Basil shared a look and a sigh, before following the volatile duo. 

* * *

Due to the narrow sidewalk, they walked in pairs down the street. Sunny observed their two friends up front. 

“Why won’t your dad let you get a Pet Rock?”

“He's kind of strict about these things.”

“Awwww, why? They’re just games.”

Kel engaged with Aubrey, bouncing around as he pestered her with questions. Aubrey walked more coolly, turning just her head as she held the umbrella still for the both of them. Their shoulders bumped every now and then.

“This turned out well.”

Basil hummed as he examined the small photo he took a few minutes ago. Eyes lighting up, Sunny leaned in closer to see. His umbrella knocked into Basil’s, startling the two boys. 

“Oh! W-What is it, Sunny? Did you want to see?” 

The quiet boy leaned back and nodded. Basil laughed, mouthing a _be careful!_ regarding their umbrellas, and handed the photo over. 

It was a close-up shot of Aubrey winking, her soft features captured wonderfully.

Behind her was Kel, photobombing. He smiled over her shoulder and made a peace sign. Had her head not been covered by the umbrella, would Kel have put bunny ears on her head instead? 

This photo warmed his heart, a bliss that mirrored his friends’ smiles. Yet a part of Sunny longed for something more—a change to this photo, whatever that was. It made him suddenly uncomfortable, not knowing what this odd feeling was. 

As he continued to scan the photo's contents, he realized. Aubrey hadn’t been around this Friday after school or Saturday. Her parents were uptight with how often she could hang out after school and with whom. Sometimes Mari needed to guarantee to Aubrey's dad that she was there to supervise, especially during sleepovers. In contrast, Kel took every opportunity to visit. He and his older brother Hero came over just yesterday for morning cartoons, before the younger boy was dragged home to finish his chores. 

Kel missed Aubrey. Of course, they all missed her. But maybe Aubrey missed Kel too. _Maybe that's why they were so close today_ , Sunny realized.

“You always ask to look at my photo whenever I take any pictures of Aubrey,” Basil thought aloud, studying Sunny's face. He leaned in to whisper, making sure Kel and Aubrey did not overhear. “Do I... _maybe_ sense a little crush?”

Sunny froze. His eyes widened at the blond boy, who stopped beside him. With how pale Sunny’s skin was, he could see Basil’s smile grow as a furious blush heated up his ears and cheeks. He quickly ducked his head, overwhelmed.

_A crush._

“That’s…” 

Sunny squeezed his umbrella handle to distract himself from his swelling anxiety. It felt a little hard to breathe.

Was he so obvious? 

How long did Basil know? Did anybody else know? 

She was one of his best friends. He admired her so much. But… 

_But...?_

Basil giggled quietly into his hand, tickled by his friend’s embarrassment. 

“Don't worry, I won't say anything. My lips are sealed,” he whispered. “Now, c’mon”—he nodded towards Kel and Aubrey—“before they leave us.”

Basil went the extra mile to look out for him, to comfort him of his worries. Sunny could always count on his friend to keep a secret.

Still, it concerned Sunny that someone else knew. 

_No one else can know_ , Sunny thought. _Because—_

“—don’t play dumb. Why do you think it’s gross?”

“Just because.”

Sunny and Basil caught up to hear another heated conversation.

“Because what?” Aubrey asked, puffing up her cheeks.

“I don’t know. It just... is!” Kel gestured wildly in hopes of conveying his non-answer. “I don’t need to tell you!”

Aubrey stopped right as they walked by another driveway. “Then why are you under my umbrella?” She demanded, hugging her umbrella closer and tilting it away from Kel. 

Kel instinctively stepped closer to Aubrey to avoid the rain, their bodies touching. Aubrey did not flinch.

“What does that have to do with anything?” he asked.

Aubrey pointed to her umbrella. “You don’t like pink!”

Kel followed her finger up, then shot her a puzzled look. “Huh? No, I said it was gross.” 

“Same thing!”

“No, it isn’t, Aubrey! Who cares? _You’re_ the one who told me to stay under your umbrella!”

Sunny’s eyebrows shot up. 

Aubrey bristled, a blush covering her entire face. Her wide eyes flitted to the other boys, who watched awkwardly, as though they had overheard a terrible secret.

“Well, I changed my mind! That was before you said pink was gross!”

She lifted her umbrella just above Kel’s head and shoved him away. Kel staggered backwards, hissing from the sudden shock of the cold rain, as Aubrey ran to hide behind Sunny.

Sunny and Basil winced at Kel. _He would have given chase and caught her easily_ , Sunny noticed. Instead, the boy stood dumbfounded like a drenched puppy.

Aubrey blew a raspberry. Kel huffed and looked away, mulling over something while adjusting the hood over his now soaking head. 

Then, like night and day, Kel flashed a grin at Sunny.

“Hey, buddy—”

“No.”

Aubrey snorted as Kel gasped comically. He placed a hand on his chest in disbelief, being shut down by his best friend like that.

“Why don't you wanna share?” 

“You said pink was gross,” Sunny said, frowning.

Aubrey's eyes lit up, and she squealed cheerfully. “Hehe! Thank you, Sunny! It's nice to have a _real_ friend.”

“No problem,” he murmured, his heart fluttering once again for defending Aubrey. Though, while he liked being praised by her, Sunny simply didn’t want a soaked and sloppy Kel standing by his side. He preferred his clothes dry. 

Kel huffed again at Aubrey's comment. Determined not to give up, he turned to Basil. 

“Don’t let him, Basil!” Aubrey urged.

The boy in question blinked at her command, before smiling apologetically at Kel.

“Sorry, Kel," Basil said. "But I thought you enjoyed being in the rain? Isn’t that why you don’t have an umbrella?”

Kel’s eyes widened. “YOU’RE RIGHT, BASIL!” Then he closed his eyes and whispered to himself, “It's like I've forgotten who I am…”

He turned his back to his friends, and he stretched out his arms to embrace the rain on every part of his body. Kel tilted his head up and sang a screechy note to the sky, his mouth open to taste the water. He let out a ticklish giggle as the rain splattered hard on his face, the water dripping down into his hood and drenching his shirt.

Watching with interest, Basil walked ahead of his friends and took out his camera.

“This feels great _and_ it tastes good! You guys are missing out!” Kel exclaimed, smacking his lips.

Sunny cocked his head. “Rain has a taste?”

“Kel, it’s water. It doesn’t taste like anything,” Aubrey said.

“I’m not lying!” Kel yelled back, spinning around to face his friends. “How would you know, Aubrey? Under your _pink_ umbrella?” 

Aubrey was about to retort, but she cut herself off by bursting out laughing. 

His face was soaking wet, soggy hair matted onto his forehead. Water from his hair rolled down his brows and stuck to his eyelashes, forcing him to squint uncomfortably with a lopsided smile. Aubrey laughed at his ugly expression, clutching her stomach out of breath.

“What is it?” Kel asked, amused by her sudden laughter. He blinked rapidly to try to see.

Aubrey continued to laugh, refusing to answer with the shake of her head.

Sunny answered for her. “Your face.”

Kel mouthed a _oh_ , and he chuckled sheepishly as he wiped his face with his arm.

“Don’t you want to try, Sunny?” He gestured to the falling rain around them. "It feels pretty good!"

“I... don’t want to get wet.”

Kel shrugged. “Aw well. You’re missing out,” he said, before happily sticking his tongue back out to taste the rain. 

_Snap!_

Hearing the camera snap, Kel called out to Basil. “I looked awesome, right?”

“Yup!” Basil cheered as he walked back from a few feet away, pulling the newly developed photo out of the camera. “By the way, rain water can have different tastes. It depends what’s in the atmosphere.”

“See, I told you!” Kel bragged to the other two, earning an eye roll from Aubrey. “Basil! Now take a picture of me doing _this_!” 

Kel stretched out his arms once again, singing another off-tune note as he opened his mouth for the rain.

Aubrey ducked her head to hide her giggle. Kel twisted his head, grinning at her reaction, before turning back to Basil’s camera. 

Now that his friends were preoccupied, Sunny glanced at Aubrey who now stood beside him. She was more than an arm’s reach away, as their two umbrellas prevented them from standing any closer. She watched Kel get his photo taken.

Seeing Aubrey like this, Sunny remembered Kel's words: she told him to stay under her umbrella. She wanted him by her side.

His stomach twisted. It was that uncomfortable feeling again, something he was better off not acknowledging.

_Waiting for something to happen?_

“Hm? Sunny, what is it?” Aubrey asked. He flinched at the sound of her voice. He had been staring.

_But will it happen to you?_

Sunny shook his head at Aubrey.

“It’s nothing.”

Aubrey pouted. “Really? Are you sure? You can tell me.”

Her fussing over him melted his heart, and he began to feel a little hopeful. “It’s nothing,” he repeated. 

Maybe next time, he would come along without an umbrella.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write about the rainy day memory because it confirmed Sunny’s crush on Aubrey, but it also showed her and Kel hanging out for most of the scene. What were those two doing together before Sunny and Basil arrived? How did Sunny feel seeing them so close? Did Kel mean it when he said pink was gross? Why did Aubrey not let Kel under their umbrellas, according to the photo album? These were some of the questions I wanted to explore.
> 
> The conversation Basil and Sunny overhear at the beginning is about putting salt on worms. Kel tells Aubrey what happens when you do, and she scolds him because the idea is kind of sadistic. Putting salt on worms is something I heard about all the time as a kid. I’ve never put salt on a worm.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Btw this is my first fanfic, so hopefully it's alright. It took 3 weeks to write—do fanfics this length typically take this long? By the end I honestly wanted to get this over with, haha.


End file.
